Eerie
by TheUnknownGamer
Summary: The three-day tragedy of Mephiles the Dark's sadistic reign over Shadow the Hedgehog. Mephadow, Shadouge, and adult themes. Read at your own risk! This gets pretty crazy.
1. Assaulted

"Sonic, to your left!" Sonic quickly evaded the beam of purple light and gave Silver a thumbs-up.

"Thanks!"

What do you want from us now, Mephiles?!" Shadow yelled at the evil deity as they continued to fight. "You're never going to win! Just leave us be!"

The demon laughed. "I see you still haven't figured out who you're dealing with."

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow sent a bolt of green lightning flying toward his look-alike, who simply melted into a black mass and disappeared before it got near him. To everyone's surprise, he didn't reappear.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Sonic smiled and held up his hands to give the other two high-fives.

Silver returned the gesture and slapped his hand, but Shadow just crossed his arms over his chest. "He's going to be back."

"Yeah, but not for a while!" Sonic replied, "Don't worry about the inevitable; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

"I guess so, but-" Shadow was suddenly cut off when he felt something cold wrapped around his right leg. He looked down and saw that it was a smoky black tendril. "FUCK!" He screamed as it jerked him onto the ground and his face hit the dirt.

The other hedgehogs turned around and Sonic gasped while Silver screamed, "SHADOW!"

The ebony hedgehog found himself being dragged across the grassy field to the cliffside. "No! NO!" He clawed at the ground as the others ran after him. Sonic caught up fast and grabbed Shadow's arm, but it slipped through his fingers and a Mephiles clone solidified to grab him and hold him down. The same happened to Silver.

"What's happening?!" Silver shouted to no one in particular.

"We're going to find you, you sick bastard!" Sonic screamed, struggling to get free. "And then we're going to kill you!"

The clones laughed, then replied in unison, "You can't kill me. Just look at your friend over there. Hell, you should see him once I'm done with him!"

"SHUT UP!" Sonic screamed. Silver hung his head and whimpered.

-XXX-

Shadow's gloves were torn and his arms covered in scratches before he realized where he was being dragged. Near where the rocks of the coast acted as a barricade against the crashing waves, there was an eerie cave that went far into the cliffside. It was a very dark, wet, secluded spot. Shadow had a feeling that was where he was being taken. But _why?_

The grass quickly became sand underneath him and, as expected, the black hedgehog was dragged into the cave. He was very deep into it before the tendrils finally released him and he could hear that laughing again. He brushed the sand and dirt off of himself and held a particularly bloodied arm. A rock had caught on it while being dragged and now the red liquid was dripping onto the floor. Suddenly, Mephiles's evil laughter started up. He clenched his teeth and looked around for the source of the noise. It appeared to be echoing off the walls and ceiling.

"Where are you?!" He yelled, "Where the hell are you?!"

The deity walked out from behind a large stalagmite, still laughing.

"What's so funny? What's with all the laughing today?"

The demon shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'm just excited."

Shadow's stomach dropped, but he tried to play it cool. "And what for, may I ask?"

"You'll find out, in time."

"Well, you know…"

Shadow let go of his wounded arm and put his hands behind his back, keeping the assailant talking while he summoned a Chaos Spear.

"What?" Mephiles continued to walk toward him. Shadow took a few steps away. His back was to the entrance, but it was a significant way away from his current location.

"This!" It was cliche, but he couldn't think of anything better at the time. Shadow quickly threw his Chaos Spear, but Mephiles wasn't at all surprised. He sidestepped and it glided past him, hitting the wall of the cave and ricocheting, sparks going everywhere.

"Damn!" Shadow muttered. Fight had clearly not worked for him, so he decided that flight was the only option at this point.

He turned around and kicked on his rocket shoes, skating as fast as he possibly could in the other direction. He could already see the entrance.

Shadow made the mistake of looking back, and he saw that Mephiles's dark smoky coils were after him again, Mephiles following slowly in the distance.

And he. Looked. Pissed.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." Shadow panted heavily, wondering if he was going to make it.

And of course, just to his luck, he tripped on a stalagmite. He didn't fall to the ground, but he stumbled and it slowed him down significantly. His shoes turned off automatically due to the decrease of speed, and he didn't have time to turn them back on, so he found himself merely running by foot. Something he wasn't used to at all.

Oh, but the entrance was _so close_! Just a little further and he wouldn't have to fall victim to whatever methods of torture Mephiles had ready for him.

_BAM!_

Shadow's legs were grabbed yet again and he face planted for the second time. Unfortunately, the floor of the cave was much harder than the grass or sand. His teeth hit the ground so hard that he figured they must have chipped.

Instead of these arms of dark matter pulling him back into the cave like he assumed they would, they disappeared. Shadow pulled his head off the ground and winced. Slowly, he turned his gaze to behind himself. "Ah!" Shadow fell and stumbled onto his back. Mephiles was right in front of him.

"Your attempts at escape are useless, you petty little mortal!" Mephiles lifted an arm and struck Shadow, forcing him back onto the ground. Blood trickled out of his mouth.

"W-why are you doing this…?" The intense pain was all over his body. It wasn't easy to be dragged for a mile and then get bitchslapped by a demon.

"Get up." Mephiles growled.

"Why…?" Shadow repeated.

"I said _get up_, foolish mortal!"

Shadow remained on the floor, staring up at the deity as he panted heavily. "N-no. I will not obey you!"

Mephiles's look of anger turned into a smirk. "Clearly, you don't understand how this works."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "What are you-"

Suddenly, Mephiles grabbed Shadow by the arms and pulled him onto his feet with ease. Even the Ultimate Life Form couldn't match the godly strength of Mephiles the Dark.

"This is inevitable." He growled. "Now move."

There wasn't any way to escape the deadly grip of his captor, so Shadow more or less willingly walked back into the depths of the cave. It was better than getting dragged again, in his opinion.

"I'm moving, dammit!" Shadow responded, matching Mephiles's level of anger.

When they were fairly farther back into the cave, Mephiles threw Shadow onto the ground. "Well, that was hard enough." The demon put a foot on Shadow's chest. "You're quite the fighter, I'll give you that."

Shadow spit blood at him.

Mephiles wiped it off his face with his right hand. "Heh heh. That's what I love about you, Shadow. You never give up. Never allow yourself to be broken." The demon brought a finger to his face and licked a drop of blood away. "But I know a few tricks. And I'm confident that I can break you."

He approached his victim again and got down on his knees. He grabbed Shadow by the neck and squeezed, watching Shadow grab at his own throat and try to pull the demon's left hand away. To no avail, of course.

Mephiles closed his eyes and reopened them slowly. "It's _so hard_ not to kill you right now. _So_ tempting. But I really want to break you first." He let go and Shadow gasped violently.

"And… what does that mean… exactly…?" Shadow asked.

"Tsk tsk tsk… so impatient! You're even more excited than I am!"

"Fuck… you…!"

Mephiles smiled, showing his razor sharp teeth.

"You read my mind."


	2. Hostility and Hospitality

It must have been hours since they last saw him. Sonic and Silver were still being held by Mephiles clones in that very meadow where they'd fought earlier. "Does he plan to hold us here forever?" Silver called out to Sonic. The hero shrugged his shoulders.

Then, just as suddenly as they'd initially appeared, the clones vanished. Sonic stretched out his arms. "What the hell was that all about?"

Silver, wasting no time, immediately began to run toward the coast. "I don't know but we have to find Shadow! He was dragged this way!"

They traced the trail of upturned dirt, grass and sand all the way to the cave where Shadow was being held. They entered without hesitation.

"This place is damn creepy…" Sonic muttered under his breath, looking around at the wet floor and rock formations. "Hello!" His voice echoed about three or four times.

Silver immediately grabbed his arm. "Are you trying to get us discovered?! Mephiles is probably keeping Shadow hostage, and if he's in earshot then he knows we're here!"

"Jesus, relax. Getting angry isn't going to help at this point."

They walked for a long while, peering around corners carefully every now and again, taking light, quiet footsteps. Until finally, Silver yelled, "Look!"

There, in the middle of the floor, Shadow was curled up in fetal position, not moving at all. Mephiles didn't appear to be anywhere in sight. They sprinted toward him and got down on their knees. Sonic turned him over and checked his carotid artery. "He's not dead, thank God. But, he's covered in blood and sweat! Nasty!"

"You're faster than me! Get help! I'll watch him!" Silver commanded. Sonic gave a nod and ran out of the cave, going at supersonic speed. "They better get here soon…" The ivory hedgehog muttered. "Shadow, can you hear me?" His older friend's eyelids were slightly open, but he didn't appear to see Silver. "Shadow?"

Upon closer observation, he could see dried blood around Shadow's mouth, and his arms and legs were badly scratched. He figured that after being dragged the whole way there, Mephiles must have beat him. Silver's gaze traveled to Shadow's torso and abdomen. "What is this…?"

There was something else on him aside from blood and sweat. There was… what was that…?

Silver's eyes shot open upon realization. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Fuck! Oh my God!"

Shadow's breathing pattern changed, and all of a sudden, his eyes opened all the way. Silver was kneeling above him, looking extremely alarmed. The white one looked his friend in the bloodshot eyes. "Shadow, you're probably going to make something up out of pure shame but you need to tell me the truth and the truth only. What did that demonic son of a bitch do to you?"

Shadow stared at him blankly. He slowly brought a hand up to his neck and rubbed his throat, which was covered in bruises that Silver hadn't noticed before. "Don't worry, Sonic's getting help. He'll be back soon. You need to tell me what happened."

Shadow slowly opened his mouth and sucked in a shaky breath. "I… don't… want… to tell you…"

Silver choked back a sob. It was hard seeing such a strong person depleted to nothing. Especially when it was one of your two best friends. "Shadow… you need to tell me."

The ebony one shook his head slightly and closed his eyes tightly. "Don't make me… please…"

A tear fell from Silver's cheek, and he sat up to wipe the moisture from his face. "Okay, okay, not right now. You need to rest. Not right now."

The echo of footsteps became audible and Sonic came flying around the corner. "Medics are gonna need a good hour to get here. Too far from the hospital."

"Screw this. Tell them we'll take care of it." Silver got up and shrouded himself in a teal aura. He lifted a hand and Shadow was suddenly shrouded too.

"Silver, I appreciate it, but we probably shouldn't move him. They'll get here when they get here."

Silver thought about how he knew what Sonic didn't. He also knew that _everyone_ would know if Shadow was taken to the hospital. And that was a whole lot of dignity that he wouldn't force Shadow to lose.

"No. We're going to Amy's apartment."

"Are you cra-"

"I have a reason for this." He looked at Sonic with determination on his face. "Trust me."

The blue hedgehog stood there for a moment, skeptical. He looked over at Shadow, who was beaten to a bloody pulp. _Shadow_ was. Then he looked back at Silver, who was as still as stone. "Okay. Okay fine. Take him to Amy's house. But whether or not she approves of this sure as hell isn't up to me!"

-XXX-

"This just in, Sonic the Hedgehog comes running to the Station Square Hospital screaming for help!"

Amy's eyes widened. She turned up the volume on her TV. "That's right Della, he claimed that Shadow the Hedgehog had been brutally attacked by Mephiles the Dark. From what they could tell, doctors say he was probably in critical condition."

"Oh my God…" The pink hedgehog muttered.

"And why do you say 'probably', Jack?"

"Because when paramedics arrived at the point where Sonic claimed they had found the Ultimate Life Form, nothing was there but traces of blood."

"And what could this all mean, Jack?"

"Authorities suspect that the hedgehogs got tired of waiting and took him somewhere else. Curiously, it wasn't the hospital."

"You heard it here first on Channel Seven News! I'm Della McGuire."

"And I'm Jack B. Jones!"

"Next up, we've got a local cat-"

Amy turned off her TV and stared at her reflection in the black screen. "Oh my God…" She repeated, "What happened?"

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"Amy! Open the door; it's an emergency!" Sonic's voice echoed through her apartment as she scrambled to let him in.

"What's going- Holy shit!" She covered her face with her hands in shock. Shadow was covered from head to toe in dried blood and bruises, and his fur was matted with sweat. Silver was holding him up with telekinesis, and the outsiders entered without bothering to greet her. "You can set him down on the couch over there."

"Thanks, Amy." Silver set his friend down and stretched out his arm, which had been suspended in the air for the past hour or so to hold Shadow up. The ivory hedgehog was exhausted.

"What happened?! I was just watching the news! They say this had something to do with Mephiles! Why didn't you go to the hospital?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" Sonic exclaimed. "Silver insisted that we not! He got so serious about it! I don't know what brand of crazy's gotten into his head this time but apparently it's the end of the world to give Shadow proper medical treatment!"

"Look, I'm just trying to-"

"Save it, Silver! You too, Sonic!" Amy interjected, "This isn't the time to fight! Someone's life is possibly in danger here! So tell me what the hell happened, but don't scream at each other in the process!"

Silver took a deep breath. "We were walking, just having a conversation, and before we knew it, we'd gone far into the wilderness. Somehow, someway, we came across Mephiles and a fight broke out."

"Right when we thought he was gone," Sonic added, "His creepy coils of darkness grabbed Shadow by the legs and dragged him a about a kilometer and a half from us into a cave! We would've followed him but his damn clones caught us and we were stuck like that for a really long time! When we finally got free, we found Shadow like this and Mephiles was nowhere in sight!"

"Okay, I think I get it." Amy sat down in a chair and rubbed her temples. "So then, Silver. Why didn't you wanna take Shadow to the hospital?"

"I-it was too far away."

"But you brought him here, didn't you? My apartment's only like a block from there!"

Sonic clenched his fists. "It's obvious you're lying to us!"

"I can't… I can't tell you!"

"And why not?!" Sonic was yelling now.

"Because Shadow would never forgive me if I did! He wouldn't even admit it to me himself, but I could tell!"

"Tell what?" Amy asked.

"Nothing!"

There was a silence between the three. It was obvious that silver wasn't going to say what he knew, so there was no sense in screaming about it at this point.

Silver turned to Amy. "Do you have any extra blankets?"

She nodded. "I'll go grab one."

The white hedgehog watched as Sonic sat down next to Shadow on the couch. "What could you tell…?" He mumbled. "I only see scratches and bruises."

Shadow curled back up into a ball. "D-don't look at me."

"Why not? What are you so afraid that I'll see?"

"Go to hell." Was the only answer Shadow gave.

Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Have it your way. But we're all going to find out sooner or later."

Amy came back with a grey wool blanket. "Here you go, Shadow." She set it down on him gently.

"Thanks…" He muttered.

She sat down on the couch next to Sonic. "So, when Mephiles dragged you into that cave, what happened exactly?"

Shadow blinked a few times, like he was trying to remember. He actually remembered every second perfectly. It was how to word it that took all the thought.

"You know… the works. I got dragged, then beaten. Then left for dead. Typical behavior of the sick bastard."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's what he does. And he's a pathetic scumbag."

Sonic smirked. "I couldn't agree more."

After another minute or so, Amy walked over to the kitchen. "Shadow, do you want me to call Rouge? She probably saw the news, so we should tell her you're here. And that you're alive."

He looked over at her weakly. "She's going to want to come over. Don't let her do that."

"Why not? Isn't she your very best friend?"

"I don't give a damn who she is right now, Amy. Don't let her come over!"

"Not until you give me a reason first!"

He sighed. "I… I just want to rest. Please, tell her I'm not taking visitors."

"Wish me luck getting her to listen." Amy sighed as she dialed a number and began to speak to Rouge. She quickly walked into her bedroom. "Rouge, it's Amy. Shadow's here, and he's alive, but he's really weak and covered in dried blood. It's gross."

"Oh my God! I'm coming over right now!"

Amy looked at the closed door, then walked farther into the room and lowered her voice. "He didn't want you to for some reason. Rouge, he and Silver know something that Sonic and I don't. It's something to do with Shadow. I think it might be something that Mephiles did. I'm really worried."

"Are you saying I can't come see him?"

"No. I'm not. In fact, come over. He's going to be angry, but you're our best chance of finding out what's going on."

"Okay. I'm leaving the GUN HQ right now. See you soon."

"Bye."

Amy left the room and came back into the living room where the others were. "I couldn't stop her. She's on her way. Sorry, Shadow."

He cursed under his breath.


	3. Broken Silence

A sharp knocking started up behind the front door, and Amy opened it. "Hello, Rouge. Shadow's over there on the couch."

The white bat came rushing over to him. "Shadow! I saw the news and they were talking about you! I was so worried…"

Shadow had been lying down on the couch before she arrived. He sat up and held his blanket around himself. "Come closer."

She leaned in right next to his face. "What, Honey?"

"Are my teeth chipped?" He parted his lips to reveal his lethally sharp teeth.

She sighed. "No, Shadow. Your teeth are fine. Jeez, I thought it was something important."

"That's important to me. I took a fall back in the cave."

"That's an understatement." She grabbed him by the chin and viewed his neck. "Christ, did he try to strangle you?"

"Well, he was just trying to scare me. It didn't work, for the record." He was lying, though.

"You poor thing!" She hugged him, and Shadow showed a look of irritation on his face. "Personal space, Rouge."

"Sorry." She stepped back and took a spot next to Amy, who was watching Shadow from about a meter away. "So, I have to bring up the elephant in the room. What are you and Silver hiding?"

He gasped. "Amy! What the hell?!"

"Don't pretend I could honestly just ignore it!"

"You guys all need to leave me alone. I don't have to tell you if I don't want to!"

"But you're our friend, so it's our duty to know what's bothering you!" Rouge said, crossing her arms.

"Bullshit!"

"We're not going to stop asking until you tell us!" Amy chipped in.

"Yeah!" Sonic added.

"Don't make me come over there, Faker!" Shadow screamed at Sonic.

"Do it! I don't care!" The blue hedgehog positioned his feet into a fighting stance. "It's not like you could do any damage anyway! Look at yourself!"

"You're gonna get it now, Sonic!" Shadow leapt off of the couch and threw the blanket down at his feet.

"WAIT!" Amy yelled. Everyone froze. "Nobody. Move."

Shadow was confused, until Amy elbowed Rouge and pointed at him.

"Don't look at me!" Shadow shouted.

"Amy, I'm not sure what you-" She stopped herself mid-sentence. "Wait. Wait, Amy, are you saying…"

The pink hedgehog whispered something into Rouge's ear. Shadow began to look alarmed. He didn't know what to do.

"Holy shit! Oh my God!"

Shadow covered his face with his hands. Sonic still looked as confused as ever. "What?! What am I missing?!"

Rouge grabbed Sonic by the shoulders. "Mephiles raped him! That sick demon raped him!"

Sonic froze. He was speechless.

Rouge looked over at Shadow frantically. He was shaking his head, face still covered by hands. He was whispering, "No, no, no… It wasn't real… It wasn't real…" The bat took a step toward him. "DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" He screamed, bolting for the door.

Silver put a hand up and the ebony hedgehog froze, surrounded by teal.

-XXX-

"Don't make me do this… please…" Shadow begged, sitting on the couch, surrounded by his friends (who were just standing close so that he wouldn't make a run for it).

"Honey…" Rouge put a hand on his shoulder. "We have to go to the hospital."

"I'm not going to die! And we already know who did it! Why do we have to make it a crime scene and have the whole damn world know what he did to me?!"

"Humans can help protect you from him." She replied, "Plus, the hospital can give you the care that we can't. And I don't just mean physical care."

"Like hell I'm going to a shrink! Before I know it, those idiotic humans will have me in a straight jacket!"

"Shadow. Look at me." Rouge turned his head to her's, so that they were making eye contact. "You need help, or else this will haunt you for the rest of your immortal life."

"I moved on from Maria, didn't I? I can get over something as ridiculous as this!"

"But this isn't ridiculous!" Silver interjected. "Shadow, it's going to hurt but I'm going to say it anyway, because you need to hear this." The black hedgehog glared at him. "Shadow. Just hours ago, you were brutally raped and left for dead. Yes, I said it. _Raped_. And you need help."

Shadow just silently glared at him for a long time. But eventually, that glare became nothing more than a hollow stare, and tears of pain and guilt began to well up behind Shadow's eyes.

_If I cry, that's it. I'm nothing more than dirt._

But he couldn't help it. And the tears began to stream down his face. And breathing got harder. And before he knew it, Rouge was hugging him again and he was sobbing into her shoulder. Nobody said a thing.

Minutes passed, and Shadow continued to cry. His dignity was long gone at this point, so what did he have to lose? The Ultimate Life Form simply let the emotions go. Nothing could be heard except his own rhythmic sobbing. Finally, the moment was broken when he mumbled, just barely audible,

"Oh God, why…?"

Tears began to drop from Rouge's face too. This was an unbearable sight to see.

"Oh God, why?" He repeated.

She hugged him tighter.

"Why? Why? _Why_?"

"I'm sorry." Rouge whispered, "Shadow, I'm so sorry."

Shadow pulled away from her and faced the wall. He didn't want anyone to see his red, swollen, tear-stricken face. "He did it."

"Did what?" Rouge asked delicately.

"He said he'd do it, and he did it."

"What?" She repeated.

But Shadow kept silent after that.


	4. Truth or Dare

"Can I see him now?" Silver begged the doctor, "Please? I've been waiting forever."

"He's still really groggy from the sedative, but I guess he's stable. Go ahead."

Rouge followed as Silver entered the room. The cardiac monitor showed a calm, steady heartbeat. Shadow was lying in the white bed, conscious but fragile.

"I'm sorry, Shadow…" Silver began.

"..."

"I… I shouldn't have called 911 like that, without your permission. I knew how much you didn't want to go to the hospital."

Shadow lethargically turned his head to face Silver. "It's in the future now. We're not going that direction."

Silver smirked. The drug was making him talk nonsense. He turned to Rouge. "So, how long is he going to be here for?"

"Yes."

"I wasn't talking to you, Shadow." Silver shook his head, the smirk still there. "That didn't even make any sense."

"Probably like seventy."

That got even Rouge to smile, and she'd been really shaken up from the events of earlier.

"Nevermind."

"Peace on Earth."

"He'll be in the ICU for today, but we'll take him off Morphine tomorrow." A doctor explained, who'd been writing something on a clipboard when they entered. "Then he'll have his common sense again."

"Alright." Silver sat down in a chair. So did Rouge.

"Before I leave you three alone, there's something I need to say about his condition."

Silver motioned for the doctor to go on.

He tucked his clipboard under his arm. "Okay, this is going to be hard to hear, but… we found evidence that he was sexually assaulted."

Silver looked at the floor and nodded. "We already know that."

"Well you see, it's standard protocol to conduct an investigation, so we'd have to collect DNA samples and such. We can't do that without the consent of the victim or the victim's family, though."

"Shadow… doesn't have any family." Silver explained solemnly.

"Wait, what do you mean by investigation?" Rouge asked suddenly, "We already know who did it. Mephiles the Dark!"

The doctor looked stunned. Clearly, he hadn't seen the news. "Oh. Well in that case, we can give you directions to the nearest police station! Under these circumstances, I would advise you to check out today."

Silver scoffed. "He's not gonna go to the police even if we drag him there. He's jacked up on morphine anyway!"

"It'll wear off in four to six hours. The station is open twenty-four-seven so don't worry about time." The doctor cleared his throat. "But I'm only making recommendations. Ultimately, what you do is up to the victim.

"Okay, well…" Silver looked to Rouge, wondering what they should do.

-XXX-

"I'm still really not sure if I want to do this…" Shadow mumbled as he and Rouge sat in the back of a Taxi.

She stroked his quills, which were still damp from the hospital shower. "It's worth it. I promise you."

The sun was long-gone and the city lights were stunning from the inside of the vehicle. Such a cozy ride, to such a frightening task. Shadow knew how it all worked. He'd be led into a little room, and he'd have to explain all the tiny details of his assault into a microphone while a human asked him violating questions.

"But what's it really going to help, if we already know who did it?" He asked. His breathing was shaky.

"Shh… I know you're scared." She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "It's going to help them figure out how to trace it back to him, for one thing. Human government, as you know, is very particular. They need evidence before they can go to capture and hopefully kill the sick son of a bitch."

"But that's not going to change the past!" He raised his voice, startling her.

"But it'll stop him from ever doing it again! Don't you want that peace of mind, Shadow?"

"I'll never have peace of mind again."

"We're here." The driver called to them from the front seat as he pulled over.

"Thank you. Do you accept rings?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, thanks again." She opened up a purse that was slung over her shoulder and handed him a few of the golden circles, before getting out of the car with Shadow.

The taxi pulled away and Rouge looked over to her right at Shadow, who had his eyes closed and was taking a deep breath. "Alright, let's go before I change my mind."

Without saying another word, Rouge grabbed his left hand. He turned his head in shock for a split second, but didn't shake her off. He just squeezed her hand tightly and entered the police station.

They walked up to the front desk, together. A man with short blonde hair was scribbling something down on a sticky note, holding a phone between his ear and his shoulder. "Sir, sir, sir! Please calm down! I'm going to transfer you to a hotline. Hold on one second!" He slammed the pen down and grabbed the phone with his left hand, pressing a button and ending the call before putting that device down too. "I'm sorry about that." He said before he looked to see who it was. When he saw Shadow and Rouge, his eyes opened wide. "Oh my God! It's, I, I saw you on the news!" Shadow glared at him. The man smoothed out his collared shirt and blinked. "I'm sorry. Really sorry. I'm just shocked. Why're you two at the police station?"

Shadow's grip tightened enough to make Rouge wince. "Sh-Shadow, go ahead."

"Sir, if you heard the news, you'd know that... I was attacked earlier today... B-but it's more complicated than that. May I speak with somebody please?"

"Yes. Absolutely. That's what we're here for. I'll be right back." He stepped through an open doorway behind the desk, and Shadow loosened his grip.

"You're doing really well. I know this isn't easy. I'll be here as long as you need me." Rouge said gingerly, smiling at him. He didn't look at her. Just stared straight ahead at the wall next to the open door.

After a minute or two, the man came back, and another man was following him. This new man smiled and said, "Hello, I'm officer Richards. But, you can refer to me as Dean today."

Shadow nodded at him.

"So, please follow me and I'll bring you to the interview room."


	5. Room 666

They went through a different door and the two found themselves being led down a narrow hallway leading to many numbered rooms. Dean unlocked one and motioned for them to sit down in front of a grey table. As they did so, Shadow took into account the one-way mirror on one wall, the security camera in the corner nearest the door, and the little microphone that he'd imagined, sitting in front of him on the table. The whole scene looked like something out of a crime scene investigation show.

The officer sat down across from them and folded his arms on the table. "This is completely unlike an interrogation. The microphone is on, and I'd like you to speak into it, but we're only here to help. So please don't feel like a criminal. This is totally casual!" He took his hands off the table and leaned back in the chair, setting his arms behind his head like a cushion.

Shadow scoffed slightly. "You remind me of Sonic."

"Sonic the Hedgehog? I don't mean to sound narrow-minded, but it's kind of cool to talk to you. You and the other heroes are known all around the planet! You're real-world superheroes, you know."

Shadow's smirk faded. "Superheroes aren't real. Everyone breaks eventually."

Rouge looked over at him, recognizing the keyword of that sentence. "Shadow, what do you mean by 'break'? You said something about that earlier today, but I didn't want to bother you about it."

"Let me start my story, first. That question should answer itself." Shadow told her. He looked down and realized that they were still holding hands. He considered releasing Rouge from his firm grip, but he found himself really not wanting to. In fact, he felt more secure when they were touching. He decided to leave it.

"Okay," Dean began, "You wanted to talk about the attack, right?"

"Yes."

"Got it. For the sake of the recording," he motioned to the microphone, "I'm going to start from the beginning. What is the event that occurred?"

"I was assaulted."

His grip on Rouge tightened again.

"Did you see your assailant and can you identify him or her?"

"Yes. H-he's Mephiles the Dark."

The officer heard his nervous stutter and flashed a thumbs-up, as if to say, "You're doing fine."

"Can you describe the incident? Step by step?"

Shadow took a deep breath. "Okay, so at the very beginning, Sonic, Silver and I were walking, having conversations, discussing life, the works. And we quickly got farther from civilization than we'd anticipated. We encountered Mephiles and began to fight. We thought it was over, but then those damn coils of darkness that he summoned grabbed my leg and dragged me." He stopped momentarily and took another shaky breath. "I was dragged all the way to the coast, into a cave, and then very deep into it. At one point, I got loose and tried to escape, but that just made him angry. He brought me back in and struck me once in the face. Then, after some sinister trash-talking, he-"

"I apologize for interrupting, but do you remember exactly what he said to you?"

"He laughed and said, 'That's what I love about you, Shadow. You never give up. Never allow yourself to be broken'..."

Rouge sat up straighter, suddenly coming to the realization.

"Then he said, 'But I know a few tricks. And I'm confident,' C-confident," He stuttered, "'Confident that I can break you.'"

The officer raised an eyebrow. "You mean like, break your spirit? Ruin your life?"

Shadow nodded.

"And then, he took his left hand and grabbed me by the throat. Grabbed me so hard that I couldn't breathe." The ebony hedgehog put his hands around his own neck, motioning. When he pulled them away, the policeman noticed the bruises.

"I'm sorry." He said sympathetically.

"Don't be. You haven't heard the worst of it."

Dean's face was now one of sorrow and concern. "What happened next?"

"Well, this part was a bit of a blur. He said some stuff. I said some stuff. I don't really remember the whole conversation. But what I do remember is this: I told him, 'Fuck you'. And h-he replied…"

Shadow's voice grew soft. "He replied, 'You read my mind.'"

The officer had been leaning in close to hear Shadow completely, but when he heard this, he pulled away in shock. "Wait! Are you saying…?"

Shadow could feel tears welling up behind his eyes again. He nodded and covered his face with his right hand, gripping Rouge as hard as ever.

Dean shook his head. He'd heard this kind of news before, but only from women. Never once, in his career of a four years so far, had he ever heard that this happened to a man. And to Shadow the Hedgehog of all men! It had to have been the most shocking thing he'd ever heard. Still though, it was top priority to remain professional.

He looked over at the hedgehog in front of him that was about to cry. "Sir, try your best to calm down, so that we can continue the interview. This crime has escalated from a misdemeanor to a felony."

Shadow counted to fifty in his head. Rouge was patting his shoulder with one hand, whispering, "Shh… you're doing great. Shh…"

Once he reached fifty, he removed his hand from his face and was glad that the tears hadn't escaped his eyes. "I'm ready to continue."

"Okay, great. Please carry on. So, what happened after your attacker said that phrase?"

"Well," he sniffed, trying to resist the running of his nose. "I stared up at him, shocked. I must have looked scared, because it brought an even more sadistic smile to the bastard's face. I don't know why, but I tried begging. I said, 'Please, no. Anything but this.' and the whole nine yards. Didn't stop him, of course."

He looked up from the table at Dean. "Are we done here?"

"We're done whenever you want to be done. We can't hold you here. However, it would be extremely helpful to the investigation if you were to describe to us the actual attack."

Shadow shook his head. "No, no, no. We're done."

"Wait, Shadow." It was Rouge.

He looked over at her.

"I know you don't want to relive it, but… I really think you'll regret not telling them the details. It's only going to help them, and it's only memories! They can't hurt you, I promise!"

"Rouge… it was the most horrible, degrading thing I've ever experienced in my immortal life. I can't go through that again!"

"...Okay. I respect that. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty or anything."

She got up from the chair and began to walk out of the interview room, but her hand was still in Shadow's grasp and he didn't get out of the chair.

"On second thought, you're right." He said, staring at his reflection in the one-way mirror. "He did this. And that son of a bitch is going to get everything I can throw at his sorry ass!"

Dean hadn't moved from his seat either, and he folded his hands on the table again, smiling. Rouge was showing the same expression as she got seated again.

"So then," he began, "Where were we?"

"He ignored my begging. He ignored my negotiations." Shadow said monotonously, "And he ignored my cries for help." A tear rolled down his cheek. "Dammit…" he muttered, wiping it away.

"It's okay to cry." Rouge whispered, "Who could possibly blame you?"

Shadow continued his story. "I just didn't have the strength to get him off. Not only had I been dragged for a millenium over grass, dirt, and sand, but his very touch drained my Chaos Energy. It built back up later, but I was powerless at the time." He wiped away another tear. "So, anyway, after he said, 'you read my mind', that's when he climbed on top of me. I was terrified, to be honest. I knew at that point, that it was going to happen. I couldn't do anything to stop it."

He looked up at the officer. Took into account his slick, black hair. Almost as dark as Shadow's fur, but not quite.

"Dean, do you know what it's like to be kissed by a demon?"

The human shook his head. "Explain it to me."

"It's cold. Icey, in fact. So cold that it makes you shiver." Shadow swept yet another tear off his face before explaining, "Mephiles leaned in very close to me, his head above mine. Gently but startlingly, he kissed me. Right on the lips. And that cold, cold, freezing cold touch spread like wildfire throughout my entire body in a split second. It made my heart pound in my ears, Dean. And my life flash right before my eyes."

"What happened next?"

"He forced his disgusting tongue into my mouth, and let his malicious, clawed hand snake down my body."

The ebony hedgehog shook his head.

"Dean, Rouge, how am I supposed to explain to my best friend, a woman might I add, and a completely unfamiliar human, the very vivid details of how I was brutally raped by another man?!" He slammed his hands down onto the table, startling the two listeners and releasing Rouge's hand in the process. "How am I possibly expected to admit that when his monstrous touch landed on my groin, I had to bite my lip to stop from moaning?!" Shadow stood up, pushed his chair over, and leaned against the far wall, facing away from the others. With his next sentence, he was full-out yelling. "And how am I supposed to live with myself after he pried my legs apart and stole my innocence?!" He turned around sharply, revealing bloodshot eyes and a face dripping with tears. The hedgehog slowly sank onto the ground and curled up into a tight ball, crying. "I was a virgin…" he mumbled.

Rouge sprinted over to him and wrapped her arms around his shaking body. "I shouldn't have forced you to come to this…" Still holding onto her humiliated friend, Rouge looked over at Dean. "I'm sorry, but this interview is over."

He stood up and nodded solemnly. "Okay."


	6. Smiles in the Darkness

The GUN HQ was a fairly extensive drive out of town, so Amy allowed Shadow and Rouge to stay the night at her apartment. Shadow refused to go back to the hospital.

The three friends sat on the couch in the living room, watching late night TV. Amy had spent a significant amount of the day cleaning blood off the couch where Shadow had been laying, but she didn't mind. It was obvious how desperate the poor guy was.

"I'm going to grab a soda. You guys want anything?" Amy asked, getting up and stretching.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, though." Rouge said.

Shadow simply shook his head. "I'm going to go take a shower." He stated, getting up and beginning to follow Amy out of the room.

"Didn't you just take one a few hours ago, in the hospital?" Rouge asked.

"Yes."

She looked at him for a moment. He stared right back. His eyes seemed hollow and unhappy.

"Nevermind." She turned back to the TV and heard him shut the door on his way out. As soon as he left, she looked back over to the direction in which he'd gone.

"I'm so sorry, Shadow…" She mumbled under her breath.

Soon, Amy came back with a grape soda. "Poor guy can't seem to feel clean, I'm guessing."

Rouge nodded. "That's probably so."

A half hour later, Shadow came back. His fur was shiny and moist, and his attitude seemingly rejuvenated. He had a small smile on his face when he walked back into the room.

"What's going on…?" Amy asked.

"I just… feel better."

"Sometimes a shower's all you need." Rouge said happily, putting an arm around him when he sat back down.

-XXX-

"Wow, two AM came fast!" Amy said as she turned off the TV. "I'm going to bed. There's a guest bedroom with a double bed, and the couch for you guys. I guess you could flip a coin or whatever. G'night!"

Rouge waved as she stood up. Shadow just nodded as she passed him on her way out.

"You can have the bed. I'll take the couch." Shadow stated, breaking the brief silence that had fallen.

"Nonsense! I'll take the couch." Rouge argued.

"No, really. Might as well let the one who's going to sleep tonight use the bed."

"You don't plan on sleeping?"

He looked away and shook his head. She knew why he wouldn't sleep. He was scared.

"Well, I'm not sleeping either! What a coincidence!" She joked, running out into the hallway and quickly coming back with a blanket. "How about we just get comfortable on the couch and wait the night out?"

He gave her a quizzical look, but she ignored it, sitting back down next to him and pulling up her feet. "Here, have some blanket."

"I'm fine." He just sat still, arms crossed.

She sighed. "You're getting some blanket, whether you want it or not." She scooted closer to him and threw some of the soft fabric over his body. She had gotten so close that they were touching, and she noticed at that point that he'd been trembling. "Are you okay?"

He looked her in the eyes and slowly shook his head. She could tell he was trying not to cry again. "Nobody would be, Honey. I promise." She embraced him gently, and he returned the gesture, forming a consensual hug.

"I don't understand, Rouge. Why would he do this? Does he simply want to watch me fall to pieces?"

"I don't know... I don't know…" She kissed him on the forehead. "But Baby, that doesn't matter in the end."

"How does his motive not matter?"

"It's not going to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. It's just something horrible that happened. The only thing we can do is try to move past it."

Rouge felt a tear hit her shoulder. "Moving past it isn't enough though."

She pulled out of the hug and caressed his cheek. "It really is. And you'll see that eventually. When you do is up to you."

He studied her eyes for a minute after that, thinking about what she said. Eventually, he broke the silence. "I'm going to turn off the light. You should get some rest."

"I'll be fine. You need it more than I do."

"But I already told you, I couldn't possibly sleep tonight."

She smiled at him. "You can try."

He reached for a lamp that was beside the couch and turn it off. The room was suddenly flooded with darkness. "And I'll fail." He added.

She ignored that remark. "Lay down against the armrest." He did as he was told. Rouge snuggled up right next to him. The couch was barely large enough for them to lay side by side, so she was very pressed up against Shadow, but neither one minded. In fact, he put an arm around her and she beamed in the darkness.

-XXX-

When Rouge woke up, sunlight was pouring through the windows of Amy's apartment, and she found her head to be resting on a certain someone's chest. "Good morning." He greeted.

She sat up and noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes. "Same to you. Did you manage to get any sleep last night?"

He shook his head. "Whatever. I'd probably have nightmares anyway."

"Well, you're going to need sleep eventually."

"And I'll get it. Just not now, and not anytime soon."

"So what, are you planning on becoming a zombie?"

"Maybe I am. What are you going to do about it?" He hoisted himself onto his shoulders and smirked at her mischieviously.

"I'll have to make you sleep." She smirked back, suddenly pinning him down on the couch. But to her surprise, this didn't summon a good reaction.

Shadow's expression immediately became one of fear. "Please let me go."

She got off of him and sat back up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay. It's okay." He threw the blankets aside and got up. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Alright. Sorry again."

"Really, it's fine!" Was the last she heard before he shut the living room door loudly. The shower kicked on and she walked to the kitchen for breakfast.

Amy came out of her bedroom as Rouge set some plates down on the table. "You cooking breakfast?" The pink hedgehog asked.

"Yeah. I'm gonna try making some pancakes."

Amy chuckled, sitting down in front of a plate. "You don't sound very confident."

"Well, that's because I'm not." Rouge rummaged through the shelves until she found the pancake mix. "I'm planning to wing it."

"Just don't make too big of a mess."

"No promises." Rouge ripped open the top of the cardboard box and opened the plastic bag inside. She then got out a frying pan and set it on the stove, proceeding to pour some of the powder into it. "Okay, I think we're off to a good start!"

Amy got up and walked over. "What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to mix it with other ingredients before putting it into the pan!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that?"

Amy grabbed the box out of Rouge's hand and pointed to the side, where a set of directions was printed.

The bat threw her hands up in the air. "I give up. Let's have cereal instead."

When Shadow walked out of the bathroom, there were bowls and cereal boxes sprawled out over the table. "Morning." Amy greeted through her mouthful of Raisin Bran.

Shadow waved and sat back down on the couch.

"Don't you want any breakfast?" Rouge asked.

"Nah. I'm fine."

She shrugged. "Alright. I'm not gonna force you to eat. This time."

"Whatever."

Rouge quickly finished her cereal and cleaned up her food, including the mess she'd made while attempting to prepare pancakes. Then she sat down next to Shadow and smiled at him.

"So, what's on the agenda for today, Handsome?"

He stared straight ahead, at his reflection in the black TV screen. "Don't call me that."

"Sorry. You like Honey better?"

He looked over at her. "How about Shadow?"

She frowned. "Ugh. Fine. But I like nicknames better."

"Well, I wish you luck finding one that I like."

"Challenge accepted." She took her hand away from his head and crossed her arms.

"No, no, that's not what I meant-!"

"Too late!" She got up and began to pace around excitedly. "Okay, let's see… how about…"

He stood and put his hands up in front of himself. "Rouge, really, you're not going to find one. I just-"

"There's no stopping me now!" She continued to pace until he grabbed her and hugged her from behind.

"Seriously." She giggled and looked up at his face to find that he was grinning.

"Well, you guys get along even better than I thought." Shadow let go of her and they turned to find Amy standing in the doorway that lead to the kitchen.

"Hmph." Shadow crossed his arms and turned to look out the window.

Rouge just shot Amy a smile and a thumbs-up.


	7. Social Media

"I'd rather have just stayed back at the apartment." Shadow mumbled.

"I think you'll be happy you got some fresh air." Shadow and Rouge were back in a taxi, headed toward the central park. The female figured it wasn't good for him to be sitting around all day, even if he'd gotten no sleep. Shadow the Hedgehog always fared better while in motion.

Shadow stared out the window at the stores they passed by, until they began to drive by an electronics store. "Wait, pull over!" He yelled suddenly. Rouge paid their bill and they climbed out of the car.

"What's wrong?!" Rouge questioned as soon as they were on the sidewalk.

Instead of answering her question, Shadow ran up to the window of the store, where many TVs of all different sizes were blaring the news.

"Look! They're talking about me!"

"This just in, we've got more news regarding Shadow the Hedgehog being attacked by Mephiles the Dark!"

"And what news would that be, Diane?"

"Listen to this recording that was leaked by an anonymous staff member at the Station Square Police Station and find out for yourself!"

Shadow turned to Rouge, horrified. "Oh my God…"

Other people were beginning to gather around the television screens as the recording played. They had skipped right to the part where Shadow began to explain the worst of it.

"What happened next?" Asked a male human voice. There was some static in the background of the recording, but you could hear it clearly enough.

"Well," Shadow's voice began, "this part was a bit of a blur. He said some stuff. I said some stuff. I don't really remember the whole conversation. But what I do remember is this: I told him, '_(beep) _you'. And h-he replied…"

People began to look over at Shadow as the voice on the recording took a small pause. He covered his ears and backed away from the store, not wanting to hear himself say it. Rouge followed him and said, "We'd better go."

Suddenly, the voice of the recording continued. "He replied, 'you read my mind.'"

Some people took a sharp gasp. Others turned to look at him with shocked faces.

"Wait, what are you saying…?" The human voice asked. Shadow's quick, raspy breathing could be heard as he tried to keep himself from breaking down. The recording cut off there.

The present Shadow suddenly stopped backing away. He looked down to his feet and shook his head violently, muttering trivial nonsense to himself.

The news broadcast continued. "That's all we will show you due to lack of time and for the sake of viewer discretion. However, you can come to our website to watch the entire thing!"

"So, Diane, does this audio clip mean what it implies?"

"That's right, Jack. Mephiles the Dark is looking at more than charges of battery here. As of now, he's looking at sexual assault!"

The humans continued to express their concern. Shadow grabbed Rouge by the hand. "I-I…"

"I'm getting you out of here." Rouge led him through the crowd of people and they quickly fled the scene.

They stopped at a bench in the park and Shadow glanced around the area frantically before sitting down. These people hadn't heard the latest news yet. Of course, that didn't stop them from shooting a few glances in his direction. They didn't know the worst of it, but they still knew that Shadow had been attacked.

The Ultimate Life Form chuckled dryly, despite the episode he'd had just a few minutes earlier. The tears on his face were still drying. "I don't blame them, really. Look at me." He had a bandage sheltering stitches on one arm, a ring of bruises around his neck, and a slightly blackened eye. "I look like I got mauled by a bear. Not to mention what people can't see. Hell, I've got stitches in my mouth because I got bitchslapped!" He turned to Rouge slowly. "God, I'm a public spectacle. Why don't I just… I don't know. Walk around with a sign taped to my back? I give up on this."

"Shadow…" She grabbed his hand again. "There's no easy solution. Like I said, the only thing you can do is move on. And it's not going to happen overnight. But I promise you, it _will_ happen."

Shadow closed his eyes and reopened them slowly. Instead of saying anything in reply, he just extended his arms and pulled her closer to him. She snuggled up against him happily.

"Well, this is unexpected. And in a public park too."

"As of right now, at this point, I officially can't find a single fuck to give."

She looked around at the other people in the park. The two were still receiving glances every now and then. But now people were smiling instead of frowning. After a few minutes she looked back at Shadow, who was looking around nervously.

"I thought you didn't have any fucks to give."

"Not about the humans."

"Then what's wrong?"

He pushed her away and straightened his posture. "I thought I saw something. Out of the corner of my eye. I'm probably just paranoid, but…" He shook his head. "H-he's out there. Somewhere. What if…"

Rouge got up. "We should go-"

"What if he comes back?"

"He's not going to come back. The police are watching for him. You're safe, I promise. In the meantime though, we should go back to Amy's place."

"Y-yeah. Okay." He got up too and they made their way to the sidewalk.

Rouge hailed a taxi as soon as they reached the street, and they were on their way home in no time. The whole ride was silent between Shadow and Rouge.

"Hey, welcome back! You're just in time for lunch!" Amy greeted as she opened the door for them. Shadow looked slightly shaken up. "Is everything okay?"

They sat down at the kitchen table, which had already been set for three. "It's a long story." Rouge said.

"Alright, let me grab the food and we can talk about it together." Amy grabbed a plate of sandwiches off the counter and set them down on the table. She then sat down and they all helped themselves.

"Okay," Amy began as she swallowed a bite of ham and cheese. "Tell me what's going on."

"Something tells me you haven't seen the news today." Rouge replied simply.

"Oh, that doesn't sound good."

"It's not." Rouge agreed.

"We saw the forecast through a window in an electronics store." Shadow said, picking at his food. "They were talking about me again. Somebody at the police station leaked _everything_. In fact, they even gave those news idiots the recording of me."

Amy almost spit out the water she was drinking. "Oh my God! That's horrible! How could they do that? Isn't that a violation of your rights or something?!"

"Probably."

"They showed a part of it, then said that there's a full-length version of the recording on their website!" Rouge added.

Amy's eyes grew wide. "I have an idea! Maybe Tails can hack into their site and take it down! He could take down _everything_ they have on you!"

Shadow was, shockingly, less than excited. "It's not going to change the past."

"Well, it would stop a whole lot of people from seeing it!"

"Don't you get it?!" He raised his voice suddenly. "I don't even care about that anymore! It doesn't change the fact that it happened!" He pushed his food away and laid his head on the table. "Everything we do now is useless."


	8. Horror Movie

"Yeah. Okay. Yep. Thanks for the support, Silver. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye." Rouge ended the call and hung the phone back up on the wall. "That was Silver. He saw the news today and wanted to make sure we knew."

The sun was long-gone now. After lunch, the three had decided to stay inside and try to relax. Shadow only moved from the couch once, to take another shower.

"Whatever."

She turned to him and saw that he was looking around nervously again. "Seriously Shadow," she walked over and sat down next to him, "he's not coming back. The lack of sleep must be getting to you."

"But I can't sleep. It's just not going to happen!"

"Okay, remember when I said I wasn't going to force you to sleep yet?"

He narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

"Well, we're at that point where I'm going to have to force you."

"What makes you so confident that you can subordinate me?"

"I know a few tricks."

His expression suddenly became soft and vulnerable. He swallowed his spit. "...W-what?"

She was confused at first, but then remembered learning that Mephiles had told Shadow those exact words. "I'm sorry… I don't mean to keep doing things like that…"

A bolt of lightning suddenly lit up the dark sky outside. "Looks like we've got a stormy night ahead of us." Shadow commented, changing the subject. A clap of thunder soon followed.

It didn't take long before the rain was coming down by the bucketfuls. The TV lost signal and the lights would occasionally turn off and on.

After yet another series of flickering power, Shadow finally mumbled, "Why the hell don't they just stay off? This is giving me a headache and it doesn't even make any sense."

"I don't know, Baby. It's just one of those weird things." Rouge stroked his cheek. They were still on the couch.

"What did I say about the nicknames?"

"You can't stop me from using them. It's just something I like to do."

He sighed. "Whatever. I'm starting not to care anyway."

She leaned in close to him. Their faces were almost touching. She inched just a little closer, so that their lips would touch. But he stopped her.

"Rouge, I'm sorry." He pulled away. "It's not personal, I swear. I just… this stuff is making me really uncomfortable lately. You can understand why."

"You're right. I'm sorry I pushed it on you." She scooted away and looked at the floor. Personal or not, it stings to get rejected.

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker again. "Dammit! Why does this keep happening?!" Shadow rubbed his temples. A few seconds later, the lights went out completely. "Finally! They just stayed the f-"

Then the door locked. The two stood up with alarm. "Amy…?" Rouge called out.

Shadow began to shake noticeably. "Oh my God. he's here."

"No Shadow, don't worry, he's not-" She turned in his direction to see that he hadn't been looking at the door. He was staring at the corner of the room, where Mephiles the Dark was standing.

"Holy shit…" She muttered before glaring fiercely at the demon. "What do you want? Get out of here!"

She ran toward him, but all he had to do was lift a single hand, and he had her flying across the room. She hit the far wall and slid down to the floor.

"You asked me a question and didn't even give me a chance to speak. You, my dear, need to learn some manners." His blood-red scleras lit up the dark room. His jagged, crystalline body casted terrifying shadows as a bolt of lightning struck the sky.

Rouge glanced over to the phone.

"You can try, but I already cut the lines."

"Bullshit! I just got off the phone with Silver a half-hour ago!"

He laughed.

"What?!" She screamed. Somehow, Amy didn't seem to hear. Mephiles must have added some sort of temporary soundproof quality to the room.

"Well to be completely honest with you, Rouge, _that wasn't Silver_." He said the last three words in a high-pitched, slightly nasally voice that sounded identical to the ivory hedgehog's.

Shadow's ears were already flat against his head, and a low growl started up in his throat.

"What do you want from us?" Rouge asked again. "You got what you wanted from him!" She motioned to Shadow. Her voice was beginning to sound pitchy and frightened.

That smirk never fell from the deity's face. "Yeah, but here's the thing." He walked over to Shadow and lifted his chin up slightly. The ebony hedgehog was frozen in place by fear. "My original intentions really _were_ just to break your spirit. Why? Because I wanted to. But then..." He looked Shadow up and down lustfully. "Then I _really_ enjoyed myself doing so. And what can I say? The greed got to me. I wanted- no, _needed_ more. And here I am today."

Shadow threw a punch at him and the demon stumbled backward, holding his face. "C'mon Rouge!" Shadow grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up from the floor. They looked around frantically for a way to escape.

"The window!" She called out. They scrambled for the exit and Shadow quickly unlatched it.

"Oh, you're going to get it now, foolish mortals!" Mephiles raged, regaining his balance and beginning to approach them.

The two stumbled out of the apartment and onto the roof of the building. "I can survive the jump down!" Shadow yelled over the rain and thunder, "You fly and get help! Amy's probably still in there!"

Rouge nodded in agreement and leapt off the structure into open air. She caught the air under her wings and turned herself around despite the wind, to make sure Shadow was following. He took a few steps back, then began to sprint toward the edge. Unfortunately, Mephiles quickly appeared in the window frame and climbed outside.

"Hurry!" She yelled. But it was too late.

Shadow didn't even get a single foot over the edge of the roof before Mephiles grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. The demon laughed maniacally as Shadow kicked and screamed. "Rouge!" He yelled.

"I'm coming, Shadow!" She prepared to land on the roof again.

"No! Just... Get help! Please!"

"But... He'll..."

Shadow nodded. "I know... but it's inevitable at this point. Better you not be there!"

The demon cocked his head the side, coming to a halt instead of entering the building. "You've got a decision to make. It's your choice." Mephiles let go of Shadow's shoulders and grabbed him by the waist. "You can go and attempt to get some help from those useless humans, or..." Shadow whimpered as Mephiles stroked his face. "You could try your luck and go against me. Either option is going to end badly for you, though."

"Please..." Shadow's face was cloaked by rainwater, but Rouge could tell he was crying. "Just go."

She choked back her own tears, and turned away. The police station wasn't far, but Mephiles was right. It didn't make a difference whether she got them or not. He was too powerful. At that same time, though, she couldn't just sit around and do nothing while her best friend suffered that torture! She wanted to respect Shadow's wishes, she really did. But despite it all, her sheer hatred for the evil creature that currently held him was just too strong.

She whipped herself around and flew toward him at full speed. "I'm gonna kill you!" She screamed. Mephiles sidestepped and held out one arm to grab her.

"Have you forgotten that I have your beloved Shadow in my arms?" He questioned as she struggled to get free of his single-handed grip. "And now I have you too. Tsk tsk tsk. So very stupid."

"In my defense," she growled, "I knew Shadow could handle the impact. I just wanted to give you a piece of my mind."

"You shouldn't have done that." Surprisingly, it was said black hedgehog who had spoken. "You could've escaped."

"I couldn't bring myself to leave you alone with him." She argued.

"Alright, enough with the soap opera." Mephiles interrupted, "Let's get back inside, shall we?"


	9. Play Toy

_A/N: I'm thankful for everyone who's supporting this story! And thinking of kind readers, a thousand thanks to Krispina the Derp for creating some fan art inspired by this story! You're all awesome! (:_

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The deity let go of Rouge and she stepped backward, right into the hands of a Mephiles clone. She watched, terrified, as Shadow was thrown down onto the carpet of Amy's living room. The demonic creature knelt down next to him and Shadow began to growl again. He considered giving Mephiles another punch in the face and escaping, but Rouge was in the tight grip of his clone. It wouldn't work under the circumstances.

"There aren't words in any language that could possibly express my hatred for you, Mephiles." Shadow said threateningly.

Mephiles chuckled and shook his head.

"However," he continued, "I could think of a few _actions_ that would express my thoughts nicely."

The evil one straddled his victim and gently touched Shadow's face. "Would this be one of said actions?" He suddenly took his hand away and balled it into a fist, which collided with Shadow's cheek.

The ebony hedgehog yelled out in pain; Mephiles possessed a deadly amount of power when he wanted to.

"That'll teach you to talk to me that way. I own you Shadow the Hedgehog. You're mine, and only mine."

"Shut up! That's not true!" Rouge screamed. The clone twisted her arm and she whimpered.

"Stop making noise." Mephiles said simply, glancing in Rouge's direction.

"...Make me." She challenged, furious.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay." The clone turned her around and punched her the same way Mephiles had punched Shadow. "Satisfied yet?"

Rouge knew she'd have a black eye after that. Probably a broken nose too. She groaned.

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

He turned back to Shadow, who was growling even louder. "You hurt her one more time, and I swear to God, I'll kill you. First chance I get, I'll kill you."

"Wow, what's with the disobedience today? I thought I warned you about talking rudely to me." He motioned to Rouge. "I'm being very nice here, and all you do is yell and scream and insult me. Careful, or I'll get angry. And if you think _this_ is bad, it gets a whole lot worse when I'm angry."

He punched Shadow again, twice. Blood began to dribble out of his prey's mouth, who spit it at him. For the second time.

"You can do idiotic things like this, but it's just a few more seconds that you'll have to _lay back and tolerate me!_" Mephiles raised his voice near the end of the sentence and it suddenly became distorted and frightening. "I was really trying to be nice, but now that that's not going to happen, I'm changing my whole game plan!" He touched Shadow's face again, and his voice went back to normal when he said, "Look what you made me do. Such a shame." Shadow winced. His face was already bruising.

"Just… get on with it already. What are you waiting for?" Shadow asked.

"You've always been so eager. If I didn't know any better I'd think you enjoyed this kind of activity."

Shadow didn't reply.

"But here's the thing. As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm, this isn't going to be as simple as yesterday."

Shadow just blinked.

_That's it. I'm shutting down until this is over._

"And by that, I mean, if the humans called last time 'brutal'..."

He brought a clawed hand down Shadow's side suggestively.

He leaned in toward the ebony hedgehog's ear and whispered, "I'll show them what 'brutal' really is." Suddenly, Shadow felt an intense pain and realized that Mephiles had raked his claws down the victim's side, leaving deep red wounds that began to bleed onto the carpet.

He didn't mind though. It made him think of something other than what was surely about to happen. Rouge was probably watching, too. He hoped they wouldn't have to talk about it later. Speaking of time, the whole concept was kind of starting to confuse him. What happens now will probably still feel like yesterday in five decades. That's how it worked with Maria, up until the point when he decided to move on. But nevertheless, he knew that Rouge was probably right, and he would eventually get past it, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes. Maria would probably say the same thing too. Then again, for all he knew, Mephiles would rape him everyday until he couldn't take it anymore and ended his own life.

But then he was jolted from his thoughts because Rouge had grabbed his hand and was crying. Once he fully came to, Shadow realized that Mephiles wasn't there anymore, and the rain had stopped. The sun was beginning to crest the horizon.

_I wonder how long I was out of it for._

"Shadow? Shadow! Please answer me…" She was sobbing. He felt very lightheaded and dizzy.

"How long's it been…?"

"Since what?"

"Since Mephiles ambushed us."

She checked an analog wall clock. "I-I think he arrived at eleven-ish. When he left, it must have been… Oh God I don't know… but I called the police and kicked the door open. Apparently Amy didn't hear anything last night. Mephiles must have done one of his damn demon things. I don't know…" She shook her head.

His eyes started to close.

"Shadow! Stay with me. I need you to stay with me. You lost a lot of blood! I… what if you never wake up again?!"

He tried to keep them open and moved his head to the side, attempting to wake himself up. What he saw made him voluntarily shut them. And tightly.

He was lying in a puddle of his own blood.

"Shadow!" Rouge yelled again, "Open your eyes!"

He forced them open again. "I… I don't remember…"

"You don't remember what?" Sirens began to blare faintly in the background.

"Anything… after he clawed me."

"Well…" She wiped the tears out of her vision, which were quickly replaced with more. "Good, I guess. Because…" She didn't finish her sentence.

The sirens got louder. Noises all began to blend together.

Then the broken door was pushed open and Shadow could see Amy leading paramedics to him. Of all the sounds he could hardly make sense of, one isolated itself and reverberated through his head. It was a male paramedic's voice. He was probably looking down at Shadow with a hopeless expression on his face when he said it. "There's just no way he's gonna survive this."

The world began to spin way too fast, and he couldn't take it anymore. His consciousness was slipping away. The black hedgehog couldn't tell if he actually said it or not, but he could feel his lips move as his eyes closed. "I love you." He whispered, hoping to God that Rouge could hear him. And then he drifted away.

"No. No!" Rouge had stepped back a few paces to let the medics work, but when she saw him close his eyes and lie still, she sprinted toward him. A human grabbed her.

"They're doing what they can. It's not going to help to interrupt them." He said. "Can somebody take her outside?!"

Another human came up to her and said, "We're doing what we can, but for now, please come with me." She took one final look at Shadow's limp, blood-covered body, and followed him out of the building. Amy came with her.

When they were in the fresh air, the paramedic asked them to "please stand by and await further instruction". He then went back into the building.

Rouge was still crying and Amy hugged her. "He's going to make it. He's going to make it." The pink hedgehog comforted her.

"I don't know what to believe anymore." She replied. "I promised him that Mephiles wouldn't come back. And then this happened. Amy, it was so horrible…"

"Rouge! Amy!" Sonic's loud voice made them turn to look at the street. Said blue hedgehog was there, Silver following. "We heard sirens and came running to make sure everything was okay. Sadly, our suspicion was right."

"Is he okay?!" Silver frantically asked. He then saw that Rouge's hands were bloody. "H-how'd that happen…?" He asked softly.

"All this blood…" she held her hands up in front of her face, "was just from holding one of his hands."

Sonic and Silver's eyes grew wide. "So, what's gonna happen?" Sonic asked. "I mean… you know. Is he gonna make it?"

Amy shrugged. "It looked _really_ bad. They said they were doing the best they could…"

Silver grabbed her by the shoulders. "So yes or no?!"

"We don't know yet!"

"Excuse me." Rouge walked past them and sat down on a bench near the edge of the street, staring out at the passing cars. She looked absolutely desolate.

Amy stepped nearer to Sonic and Silver. "Here's the deal. I didn't get too close, but from what I saw, he was lying in a pool of his own blood. It really didn't look too promising."

"Oh my God." Silver backed away and leaned up against a tree near the sidewalk. He began to gag.

"H-he's one of my best friends." Sonic stuttered. "You really don't think he's gonna pull through?"

"I'm not a doctor. I'm just making guesses here."

Sonic stared blankly into space. "This is so horrible." Amy hugged him. He didn't move.


	10. Silver Necklace

Rouge couldn't sit still. She and the others were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. Every minute or so, she'd get up and start pacing, then sit back down again. Then get up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

"Rouge, you're gonna burn a hole in the floor." Sonic said, putting his head in his hands and looking down at his shoes.

"Look who's talking." Silver joked. Even though he tried to lighten the mood, nobody laughed.

"Please, sit down. Shadow wouldn't want you to be this worried." Amy told her, getting up and guiding her back to the row of black chairs.

They hadn't even sat back down before a doctor came around the corner of a long, narrow hallway. "Ms. Rouge, can I have a word with you?"

She followed him away from the group and into the hallway. "Is he going to live?"

"Let me explain the situation."

"Oh my God. Oh my God oh my God oh my God…" She mumbled, leaning against the wall.

"Miss, relax! It's not like that!"

"Then tell me what's going on!"

"He's alive right now. But we're not sure whether he's going to be tomorrow. His vitals are going up and down. We can't seem to get a good hold on his condition. In fact, we're really not sure whether we should ask you to take him home and keep him comfortable, or if we should let him have visitors at all."

"Seeing his friends can only be good, right? Please, I need to be with him. I've never been more scared in my life. And I'm in a line of work where things can get really crazy."

He hesitated, but nonetheless began to nod. "Okay, okay. You can see him. But only one person right now. We wouldn't want him to get any more stressed than he already is." She followed him farther down the hall until they stopped in front of a room numbered one-sixteen. Before he opened the door, he turned to her and said, "Not a whole lot of energy, okay? I'm not positive that this is the best idea in the first place."

"Okay." She said softly. "I can manage that."

"He's not on morphine right now, so it might be a little difficult for him to speak, but at least he won't be talking nonsense." She probably would've smiled on any other day, but she simply kept a straight face as he turned the turned the doorknob and pushed it open. "I'll be back in five minutes, when I'm done talking to your friends." With that, he turned and went back into the waiting room.

Without looking inside, Rouge quickly walked in and shut the door behind herself. Her back was to the room for a moment, just staring at the door. Finally, she got the courage to turn around. And there he was.

Shadow was lying in the bed, cords protruding from his skin that were hooked up to who-knows-what. His eyes were closed, and his chest was moving up and down slowly. His torso was wrapped with gauze, along with the arm that was already covered from his last trip to the hospital, and one small square of white was taped over a wound on his forehead.

"...Shadow? You awake?"

His head turned toward her slowly. She now had a good view of his face. "Hey." He said softly. A cardiac monitor beeped melodically in the background.

Despite the tears that began to fall from her eyes again, Rouge smiled and walked up to his bedside. "How're you doing?" She knelt down so that they were at eye level.

"Oh, you know." He was hardly talking above a whisper as he turned his head again, now to face the ceiling. "Been better."

"I wish there was something I could do. There's never anything I can do." She looked at him and touched his hand gently. "Hey, we've got matching black eyes."

He smiled slightly. "That's pretty pathetic."

"At least it's not matching tombstones."

"Actually…" he took a pause. His ribs hurt. He figured he'd been punched there somewhere along the lines. "Death doesn't seem too bad right now."

"Don't say that."

"Well, I'm not just broken anymore…" he took a few shallow breaths. "I'm in pieces."

She decided to change the subject. "I only have a few minutes here with you, so I'm going to spare us both the introduction. I heard you tell me you loved me."

His eyes opened wide. "I- Rouge- I thought I was going to die."

"I'm glad you said it though. Because Shadow… I feel the same way about you."

"...That's a relief."

She chuckled quietly, taking his hand in hers. "Get well soon, Shadow. Because when you do, we can… we can…"

"What…? Run from _him_ again…? To no avail in the end…?" He talked slowly, gasping for breath after every few words.

"No. No that's _not_ going to happen. When you get well, we can be happy together. Happy and free of that demonic son of a bitch."

"And how do you propose... that will happen...?"

She shook her head. "I don't know yet. But it will. I promise."

"You also promised... that Mephiles wouldn't get to me again."

She put her head down on the side of the bed and didn't say a single word until the doctor came back.

-XXX-

"Where're you going?" Sonic and Silver both asked in near-unison as Rouge came fast-walking around the corner and passed right by the area where her friends sat.

"Not sure yet." She admitted as she pushed open the front doors of the hospital and left.

Rouge soon found herself walking aimlessly among the closest shopping center of the city.

"There's _got _to be something I can do. Something I can get him, maybe? Something that'll keep his attitude up. Or maybe…"

She passed a store called, "Caroline's Jewelry". An idea forming in her head, the bat walked inside. A red-headed shopkeeper seemed shocked to see her at first, but then began to smile.

"Welcome. I'm Caroline." She told Rouge politely. "And I think I know what you're looking for."

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. Follow me." She brought Rouge over to a shelf containing many small closed boxes. "It's not like I haven't seen the news. You guys have a big demon problem. And that's where I can help." She handed a box to Rouge, who opened it and held up what was inside. It was a silver chain with a shiny cross strung on it.

"A crucifix necklace."

"Yep."

"Thank you." Rouge nodded once and put it back in the box. "This is exactly what I needed. How much?"

"On the house."

She looked up at the human in front of her with shock. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Caroline reached up to her neck and pulled a similar necklace out from underneath her shirt. "I've always worn one. I believe it keeps me safe. Sometimes, when I see someone who's troubled, I'll give them one as a gift. It's just something I like to do. And not only are you troubled, but it really suits your situation."

"That's kind of you. Thanks again."

"You're welcome. Put it to good use." Rouge turned and walked toward the door. When she was about to step outside, the store owner called to her again. "Oh, and one more thing, Rouge."

"Yeah?" The bat looked over her shoulder at the lady.

Caroline smirked. "Show that monster who he's messing with."

"Roger that." Rouge gave a salute before pushing the glass door open and walking back to the hospital.

She entered the building with a smile. "What'd I miss?" That smile of her's vanished without a trace as soon as she saw the looks on her friends' faces.

"Rouge, we didn't know where you'd gone, and you didn't have a cell phone with you." Sonic said solemnly, "We really wanted you to be here."

"Why? What happened while I was gone?!"

Silver looked up from the floor with lifeless eyes. "Shadow died. Six minutes ago."

_Thud._

The little white box fell from her hands and hit the ground.


	11. Shades of Gray

"Rouge, please stop crying. You've done nothing but cry all day." Amy hugged her, comforting her.

"I saw him just a half-hour ago… I promised him we would be happy and free, as soon as he got better!"

"You didn't break your promise." Amy consoled, "He just… didn't get better."

"You know what the last thing he got to say to me was?"

"...What?"

"He said, 'you also promised that Mephiles wouldn't get to me again.' His last thought of me was probably that I let him die that horrible death!"

"Rouge, don't think that way! He knows you did everything you could!"

"But it still wasn't enough! I loved him, so I should've found a way!"

"Nobody can be expected to work miracles."

"Getting up in the morning and not having to worry about whether or not you'll be raped that day is not a miracle! It's just how people are supposed to live! And I couldn't give it to him!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I'm just so, so sorry."

Rouge cried for a while before she heard the sound of squeaking wheels. Two humans in hospital scrubs were wheeling a stretcher covered in a sheet down the hallway. She could see a gloved hand stained with red hanging out from under the sheet. Sonic suddenly got up and stepped in front of her. "Don't look, Rouge."

"No! Shadow!" She squirmed out of Amy's grip and pushed Sonic aside. "That's Shadow!" She sprinted up to the stretcher.

A human began to say, "Miss, you can't-"

But it was too late. Rouge pulled the sheet back, revealing Shadow's face. He looked pale and lonely, his eyes slightly open and his arms at his sides.

She covered her mouth in shock as it really sunk in that Shadow was gone. Rouge looked over at the floor near the door, where that small white box was still lying. The top was ajar, the pendant shining from inside. She ran over and grabbed it, then ran back to Shadow's body. Slowly, the bat set it down around his neck. Stepping back and observing her work, Rouge could've sworn that he looked a little less alone. But still, when she'd touched him, he felt stiff and unnatural.

The doctors shrugged and covered him back up. They then continued to wheel the stretcher down the hall. "C'mere, Rouge." Silver said, somewhere behind her. She took a step back and bumped into him by accident. He simply put his arms around her.

"Were you there when he died?" Rouge asked softly.

"Yeah. I was."

She pushed his arms away and turned around. "What was the last thing he said?"

The hedgehog sighed. "Okay, before I tell you that, let me explain something to you." He walked her back to the chairs and they sat down. "I didn't say this earlier, because I didn't think you'd believe me. So with that in my defense,-"

"Get on with it! Please!"

"Okay, well, first off, he kept asking where you were. We kept telling him we didn't know." Rouge wiped a falling tear from her cheek. "And then, when his eyes started to close, he mumbled something that I hadn't understood at the time. I mean, he was talking really softly. But when we got back to the waiting room, I realized what it was. At least, I think it's what he said."

She motioned for him to continue.

"'Should've let her kiss me.'"

Rouge's eyes grew wide.

"Does that make sense?"

She nodded, slowly getting up from her seat.

"Rouge, Rouge what're you doing? Where're you going?!" Silver began to get out of his seat too, but she was already sprinting down the hallway after the humans that had Shadow's body.

She ran until she saw a sign that said "Morgue". Silver was running after her the whole way. Rouge threw open the double doors and entered a room that was significantly colder than the rest of the hospital. The doctors had already left. She took a moment look around, and what she saw scared her half to death. No, it wasn't the dozens of corpses everywhere.

"I never meant for this to happen." Mephiles was staring down at Shadow's body.

Rouge's eyes narrowed. She'd never felt so furious in her entire life.

"YOU." She pointed at him. "You did this." She ran toward him and threw a punch. He held up a hand and her fist stopped in midair.

"Please, enough with the jokes. This is majorly disappointing."

"What, are you telling me you feel sorry for him?"

"No. It's just unfortunate that I was a little too rough with my play toy."

Silver's voice suddenly came echoing down the hall. "Rouge! Wait!" The doors to the Morgue locked automatically with a snap of Mephiles's fingers, and Silver pounded on them desperately. "Oh my God!" He could see Mephiles through the window on the left door, standing in front of Rouge. The demon snapped again and the room was suddenly soundproof, just like Amy's living room. Silver's mouth was moving but no words could be heard.

Mephiles then looked back down to the table that Shadow's body laid on. The sheet was gone. None of the bodies were covered, in fact. "I probably would've revived him," Mephiles said to Rouge, "but you decided to go and put that damn crucifix on him. And now it burns me just to touch him."

"Wait, you can revive him?! Then I'll take it off for you!"

"There're a few reasons why that's not going to work."

"Oh… Care to explain?" Rouge asked, disappointed.

"Well, for one thing, it gets harder to revive a mortal, the longer they're dead. It would've been much easier to do a few minutes after he died compared to now. It's been…" Mephiles looked up at a clock. "Almost twenty minutes."

"Is it still possible, though?"

"Not now that you've ruined him with that necklace!" Mephiles yelled, "Even if you take it off, the effects will linger for several hours, and if we tried to wait it out, it'd be nearly impossible! I would have to risk my life and revive him with the effects still intact. That would mean I… make a tradeoff. My life for his."

Rouge looked from the body, to Mephiles.

"And even _that_ is near impossible. Not to mention it'll _take my life!_" He looked over at her with those bright scleras and reptilian-green irises. "Sorry Rouge, but I could never care that much about a simple mortal. You know what would happen if _I _died?"

She shook her head.

"Well I'm not going to a pleasant little afterlife with fluffy clouds and sparkly angels, I'll tell you that! In fact, even my dearest Lucifer wouldn't want me after I gave up my body for a _mortal_ to live again! I'd wander the grounds of limbo, aimless and rejected by all, for the rest of eternity! Or better yet, the 'devil', as you call him, could give me an eternal punishment instead of simply casting me out. I could go on and on, Rouge! Do you really expect me to do that?!"

She thought about what he said. Rouge looked at Mephiles, shaken up and uncomfortable as he was. Then she looked at Shadow's body, the pendant loosely hanging around his neck. The bat's eyes wandered over to the windowed door, where Silver was still silently calling out and screaming useless words.

"How did it come to this…?" She mumbled. "Three days, and this happens…" She spun around sharply and glared at Mephiles. "And it's _all your fault_."

He scoffed. "You think I care?!"

"Well, the way you got yourself scared like that, talking about the consequences of resurrecting Shadow, it sure sounded like you were torn. Torn between doing the right thing, and saving yourself."

He squinted at her. "Don't be ridiculous, now! I can't even feel empathy!"

"Then why are you defending yourself?"

Mephiles grew still and silent. After a moment of thought, he spoke up.

"Take the necklace off him."


	12. Guilty Demon

Rouge was taken aback. "R-really?"

"Shut up and do it before I change my mind." Mephiles didn't look at her. Just stared blankly at Silver, who was glaring at him through the glass on the door.

"Okay." She removed the necklace from Shadow's corpse and set it down on a small table that held various medical instruments.

Mephiles took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles, and proceeded to set his hands, one atop the other, over Shadow's heart. He gritted his teeth in pain; electrical pulses seemed to be transferring through their touch, right into Mephiles.

The deity suddenly began to chant in Latin. "_Paenitet __vere contritus sum:__ Reditum! Reditum! Reditum!_"

He paused for a moment to cry out in pain and take a few shallow breaths, then repeated his chant.

"_Paenitet vere contritus sum: Reditum! Reditum! Reditum!_" He closed his eyes tightly and ground his teeth together before saying one last time, "_Reditum! Reditum!_"

Suddenly, the demon dropped to the ground.

"...Mephiles…?" Rouge called, kneeling down next to him. "Mephiles?" She repeated.

His ear twitched slightly.

"Can you hear me?"

He groaned slightly.

"Are you alright…?"

"I… can't believe… I did this… for a mortal…"

"Did it work?"

"...Yes."

She smiled. "And you're still alive, too."

"...Not for long… I can feel… my own life force… being drained away…" His eyes opened slightly and he looked up to the surface above him. "...And brought into him…"

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I hope… it was worth it… because now I… suffer… eternal damnation…"

Rouge actually began to feel bad for the demon. Just a little.

"After all you've done..." Rouge extended a hand and gingerly touched his crystalline chest. His body emitted no heat, but she was confident in her next sentence. "I never knew you had a heart in there after all."

"I don't… care what… you think… of me…" Despite his words, Mephiles had the slightest hint of a smile on his face as his body went limp and his eyes lost their life.

Shadow suddenly jolted into a sitting position. "Rouge! Rouge!" He was screaming at the top of his lungs.

She jumped off the ground and immediately came to his side. "I'm here! I'm here, Baby, I'm here."

He was panting heavily. "I-I almost didn't make it…" She hugged him tightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I could hear him. He was talking in some different language, but I could understand him anyway. It was… Mephiles. Why was it-"

She pointed at the floor, where the deity's body laid.

He was quiet for a moment. "...I-I don't..."

"He gave you his life."

"Why?"

"I guess he felt… _guilty_."

"You're kidding, right?"

She sighed, studying the body. "When I ran in here to see you one more time, he was standing next to your body, and he said, 'I didn't mean for this to happen.'" She looked back at Shadow. "I swear."

Shadow swung his legs over the side of the table he'd once laid on and jumped off. He proceeded to walk over next to Mephiles. "You crazy, unpredictable, incomprehensible son of a bitch." Shadow's bandages weren't on him anymore. When his heart stopped beating, his wounds stopped bleeding, and the doctors threw away what protected them. But now, the blood began to drip from his skin again. He didn't appear to notice.

The ebony hedgehog chuckled as he looked down at the one who'd made him a victim. Shadow lifted his foot off the ground and brought his leg back to kick Mephiles in the ribs.

Rouge ran up and attempted to push him away, but Shadow shoved her single-handedly and she stumbled backward into the table. "Shadow, no! He's better than we thought he was!"

"I can't just force myself to forgive him after all he did to me! Even if he said he was sorry…" Shadow kicked the body and it was knocked away slightly.

Rouge came at him again. This time Shadow let her push him away. "Wait, what do you mean, 'Even after he said he was sorry?'"

"When I was dead, his voice guided me out of the light. Like I said, it wasn't English, but I could somehow understand what he was saying. It was, 'I'm sorry, truly I am afflicted: he returneth! back! back!'."

"That wasn't a normal resurrection chant." Rouge thought aloud.

Shadow scoffed. "What's a _normal_ resurrection chant?!"

"I mean, it was him calling out for you to return to your body, but…" She stared down at Mephiles. "He was apologizing too."

There was a small silence before Shadow rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Yeah. That was pretty clear."

He walked over to the door and extended his arm to the push bar, only to find that it wouldn't budge. The door was still locked. He threw his shoulder against it until it broke open and hit the wall sharply.

Meanwhile, Silver had been sitting against the wall, feeling hopeless. Sonic and Amy were pacing back and forth in the hallway, wondering what to do. If they didn't get Rouge out of there, she'd either freeze to death or be killed by Mephiles. All the staff with keys had tried to get the door open, but nothing seemed to be working. Amy had explained how Rouge kicked the door open in her living room, so they all decided that it must have to be dealt with from the inside.

Then, to everyone's shock and dismay, the left door was suddenly thrown into the wall. Silver stumbled to his feet and the group turned to see who was behind the disturbance. It was Shadow.

Everyone gasped. "Y-you're alive?!" Silver exclaimed.

"Damn right I am. Now move." Shadow began to walk down the halls of the hospital, bright red dropping to the floor everywhere he stepped. Doctors began to run out of their room and stare in shock. His friends were in too much disbelief to follow him. Except for Rouge.

She ran out of the morgue and looked around at everyone. "Mephiles… he's in there."

Sonic readied himself into a battle stance. "Don't worry. Silver and I will take care of it."

She shook her head. "Don't bother. He's dead."

Sonic slowly stood up straight again. "...Seriously?"

She nodded.

Silver stepped forward. "But, how is any of this possible? Shadow's alive again, and Mephiles is-"

"-Dead because he traded his life for Shadow's."

Everyone looked at her, confused.

"No time to explain. I have to find that hedgehog!" She ran past them and left the hospital. Said Ultimate Life Form was standing outside on the sidewalk, staring into the rows of traffic on the streets. The sun was setting and he stood against the bright orange sky, becoming nothing more than a dark silhouette. "Shadow!" She called out, "Where are you going?" Rouge continued to approach him as she saw his figure turn around to see her.

"Chaos Control!" He yelled, leaving nothing behind but drops of blood on the grey concrete.

She fell to her knees just as her friends stepped out into the cool evening air. Sonic held out a hand to help her up, but she didn't take it.


	13. Epilogue

_A/N: Thank you all for the support you've given me. It's been a pleasure, but this is the end... For now._

_That's right. There's a sequel coming up. No title's been assigned to it as of yet, but expect it to be uploaded somewhere in February or March (Though that's just an estimation). I've got my hands full with all kinds of projects. ;)_

_In the meantime, please enjoy the last chapter!_

* * *

It had probably been about three weeks since those three days of torture. Rouge didn't pay a lot of attention to the passing time. The commander had allowed her to take the time off that she needed to get her life back to normal. But no matter what, it didn't _feel_ normal. Not without Shadow, anyway. He'd been missing ever since he left her outside of the hospital. She was still staying at Amy's house.

Rouge was sitting in the guest room when Amy knocked on the door. "Hey Rouge, Blaze and I are going to see a movie. Wanna come?"

"No. Thanks anyway." Was the answer. She didn't bother to open the door.

Amy walked in. "Look, Rouge. It's been a while now. I think you should go. We'll have a good time."

"I said no."

"Rouge, you know what Shadow had to endure. And you know how he deals with that kind of thing. He may not be back for a long time. You can't spend your whole life waiting."

"And you can't tell me what to do!" Rouge replied angrily. She was sitting on the bed, facing the window. Amy walked over and sat next to her.

"Listen to yourself. You're becoming him."

Rouge thought about it for a moment. Amy was right, but she wasn't about to admit that. "I still don't want to go to the movies."

Amy sighed. "Alright. See you in a few hours."

She got up and left, shutting the door behind herself. Rouge waited until she heard the front door open and close before getting up and walking out of the room. Everything was silent. Leaves were falling outside, and it was getting colder. Stepping out onto the deck, she began to scan the ground for Shadow. Not that she expected him to be there.

He wasn't, of course.

"Where are you…?" She muttered, turning to go back inside. She sat down in a chair and looked over at the couch, wishing he would be there. "I don't understand why you left me all alone."

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

She turned sharply to the door. It could just be Amy, forgetting her wallet or something, but there was a chance it was… no, she shouldn't get her hopes up. Rouge slowly rose to answer it. "Who's there?"

"Just open the door." It was a low, masculine voice.

She'd never been faster at scrambling to undo a lock. Rouge threw it open and smiled. There, stood Shadow the Hedgehog. There were still noticeable scars all over his body but he looked a lot better. "Oh my God…" A tear of happiness streamed down her face and she hugged him.

He kept his arms at his sides, not returning the gesture.

"Please, come in." He followed her inside to the kitchen and they sat down at the table. "It's been so long."

Shadow looked down at the wooden surface, unresponsive.

"...What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Just nostalgia, I guess."

"Is that why you came back?"

He sucked in a breath. "I guess so. I left because I needed some time to clear my head. Things were spinning out of control. I wasn't sure if I could take it anymore."

She reached across the table to stroke his cheek. He smiled slightly. "But then, after having some time alone, I realized that the only way to keep my sanity intact… was to be with you."

She wiped another tear from her eye with one hand. "Shadow, Silver told me what you said right before you died."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. 'Should've let her kiss me.'"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Should have."

She rose from her chair and he got up too. Rouge walked around the table and grabbed his face in her hands, kissing him on the lips. This time, he returned the gesture.

After a moment, she pulled away. "Finally."

Shadow snickered. "I'll admit, that was long overdue."

She went to grab his hands in hers, but he put them behind his back. "What are you doing?" She questioned.

"I- nevermind." He began to walk away. "Wanna watch some TV?"

"No, Shadow. I thought we were done with all the drama. What's going on now?"

He sighed. "Okay. Fine. You're right. The drama's over."

He turned and showed Rouge his arms. There were red slashes showing through his ebony fur. Some were fresh cuts, some were becoming scars. The bat ran over and frantically asked, "D-did you do this to yourself?!"

He nodded, expressionless.

"Why?!"

He stepped into the living room and sat down on the couch. She followed him and sat in the same chair as earlier. "It was a last resort to try and get rid of the grief. Like I said, I realized later that the only way to be happy was to be with you."

"You were already so injured though! Why just add to the lost blood?!"

"Whatever injuries I'd obtained and blood I lost wasn't noticeable to me after I died. I couldn't feel it and it didn't seem to matter. So this was just something I _could_ feel. It took away some of that horrible numbness, in fact."

"Shadow, I really appreciate that you told me this, and that you think it'll help to be with me, but that's not all it's going to take. You need professional help."

"Stop it, Rouge."

"I'm serious."

He paused for a moment. "Tell you what. I'll let you drag me off to some shrink, if and only if..." He began to smile at her again. "You'll kiss me one more time."

"You've got yourself a deal."

-XXX-

Station Square was becoming thoroughly riddled with holiday decorations. Shadow and Rouge were walking back from his latest session, and although he claimed that he hated them, he was always a little happier afterwards.

Shadow let go of Rouge's hand temporarily to fidget with a green scarf around his neck. Snow flurries were falling and freezing winds scratched at his face, but despite this, he turned to his significant other and asked, "Do you mind if we take a walk through the park on the way back?"

"Not at all." They crossed the street and began to enter the area.

As they walked past the bench they'd sat on the day that they went to the police station, Shadow stopped and thought for a moment.

"Do you want to sit down?" Rouge asked.

"No. No, I'm fine. In fact, is it okay if we leave now?"

"Sure. It's too cold out here anyway."

Once they were only a block or two from Amy's place, Rouge took a turn in a different direction. "Where're you going? It's the other way." Shadow said, confused.

"Nah, home's this way."

"...I don't understand."

"You will." She guided him down an unfamiliar sidewalk and around another corner before they entered a tall building that appeared to also be an apartment complex. They went four floors up in an elevator and then trekked down a colorful hallway. Shadow noticed that the doors were colored in a red, blue, red, blue pattern, and the walls had intricate murals sprawled about.

Finally, they stopped in front of a red door at the very end of the path, and Rouge reached into her pocket to reveal a set of keys. Shadow smiled. "I had a feeling."

"Come on in. I'll show you around." Rouge unlocked the door and Shadow was led into a comfortable, open-concept modern apartment.

"This is amazing!" He exclaimed, walking into the kitchen, "How could you afford it?"

"I've been saving up my paychecks for a while now."

"Wow. I had no idea that you wanted to move out of the GUN HQ."

"Yeah, you know how it is. There's no privacy there, the commander's always in my hair, etcetera."

He put an arm around her. "I guess it'll be a little lonely around there, but at least I'll see you during work hours and on the weekends."

She turned to him. "Actually, Shadow, I was wondering if you'd like to move in with me."

His eyes widened. "Really? You're serious?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun! Waddya say?"

He put his hands on her hips and kissed her gently. "Rouge…"

She pulled away and looked out at the living room. "It's okay if you don't want to."

He stepped in front of her. "Actually, I couldn't hope for anything better." She smiled.

Shadow then began to walk around the perimeter of the house. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to break all the locks."

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall. There wasn't any furniture yet. "Sounds like you've got something new to talk about with Dr. Reynolds."

"Yeah, I guess. But I have good reason to be afraid! Amy's l-living room, th-the morgue…" He stopped in place and put a hand on his forehead.

"Shadow." Rouge ran over to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Shadow. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. Shh…"

He put his hand down and shook his head. With a sigh, he muttered, "Thanks."

"Anytime."

He continued to walk around their new home until he got to the bedroom. "Only one bedroom?" The black hedgehog questioned.

"Yep. Does that bother you?"

"Nah, it's just, you know. My night terrors."

She shrugged. "No big deal. You won't have them forever."

"You sure? Because I could just take the couch for a while if you want."

"No." She smiled at him. "Shadow, you're not a burden, if you think you are. I _asked_ you to live here, didn't I? That means I'm okay with all the little things you do. In fact, I love them. Just like I love _you_."

"Thank you, Rouge."

"Again, anytime."

He looked over to a sliding glass door that led to a deck overlooking the city. "Can I see the view from that balcony?"

"Of course." She opened the door and they stepped out into the crisp winter air, together. The snow flurries had become thicker, and the town was turning white. Shadow sighed happily as he set his hands on the railing, but neither said a thing, and the moment was perfect.


End file.
